Doses from external irradiation @ A. BouviLLe Er AL.

155

Table 7. Derived uncertainties, expressed in terms of the geometric standard deviation (GSD), in the annual doses from
external irradiation for four representative communities of the Marshall Islands.
Annual external whole-body dose (mGy) and uncertainty
Majuro residents

Kwajalein
residents (south)

Utrik community

Rongelap Island
community

Year of
exposure

Year of
birth

Mean dose

GSD

Mean dose

GSD

Mean dose

GSD

Mean dose

GSD

1948

1929
1947
1929
1947
1929
1947
1929
1953
1929
1953
1929
1953

0.016
0.021
—
—
0.55
0.67
8.5
11
0.48
0.57
0.063
0.076

2.8
2.8
—
—
1.6
1.6
1.2
1.2
2.9
2.9
2.8
2.8

4.6
6.0
0.039
0.047
0.60
0.72
15
19
1.3
1.5
0.24
0.29

2.0
2.0
2.8
2.8
1.9
1.9
1.3
1.3
1.7
1.7
1.9
2.0

0.011
0.014
0.35
0.42
0.34
0.41
120
160
0.56
0.67
1.2
1.4

2.8
2.8
2.9
2.9
1.8
1.8
1.3
1.3
1.4
1.4
1.3
1.3

1.8
2.4
0.62
0.75
0.37
0.45
1,600
2,000
0.48
0.58
2.7
3.3

2.8
2.8
2.7
2.7
1.8
1.8
1.3
1.3
2.8
2.8
1.5
1.5

1951
1952
1954
1956
1958

community, and the Utrik community) that represent the
range of exposures across the Marshall Islands. The table
applies to all years when testing gave rise to measurable
fallout in the Marshall Islands. The derived GSDs, which
range from 1.2 to 2.9, vary among years and amongatolls,
essentially depending on the uncertainties assigned to E12
for each test and location. There is, however, very little

dependence with age as the uncertainties for adults and for
children have the same numerical values within a few percent.
The external doses resulting from the tests detonated in
1954 were the largest of any year, regardless of the atoll or
island. In contrast, the uncertainties of doses from tests in

1954 are the smallest because they are based on relatively
good measurement data in comparison to other years when

the doses were low andprimarily based on '’’Cs deposition

estimates derived from interpolation of measurementdataat
nearby atolls or, in some cases, meteorological modeling.

Asa simplification for the purposes of estimating the risks
of radiation-induced cancers (see Land et al. 2010), the

uncertainties assigned to the annual doses from external
irradiation to members of each community were given the
same valuefor all years when testing took place. The GSDs
assigned were based on the derived GSD estimates in the
years in which the doses were mostsignificant. Overall, the
GSDs were smallest in communities where the greatest
dose resulted from the 1954 tests and highest in communities with the lowest doses from the 1954 tests. The derived
GSDswere 1.2 for the Rongelap Island community, 1.5 for
the Utrik community, and 1.8 for the Kwajalein and Majuro
residents. Because the quality and availability of data were
roughly the same for atolls and islands within each of four
atoll groups (see Table 5), the GSDs were assumedto be the
same for all communities within each group.
These selected uncertainties apply to the annual
doses received during the years when testing with measurable fallout occurred. In later years, the uncertainty

would be larger as weathering andestimatedloss of '*’Cs

from the soil profile, which can vary from one area of the
island to another, could be substantial. However, the

annual doses in the years without tests are lower by a
factor of 100 or more than the doses received during the
years of the tests; their GSDs have not been individually

derived but assumed equalto those in the years assessed.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Annual doses from external irradiation resulting from
fallout from regional nuclear weaponstesting have been
estimated, for the first time, for all tests that resulted in

measurable fallout and for all Marshallese alive at the time

of nuclear testing (1946-1958), and at all 25 inhabited

atolls. The methodology used to estimate the doses is based
on test- and location-specific radiation survey data coupled with estimates of fallout TOAsat the inhabited atolls or

on deposition density estimates of '*’Cs coupled with fallout

TOAs. Both types of data are discussed in a companion
paper (Becket al. 2010). For every test, the major part of the
dose from external irradiation was received during thefirst
year following the detonation. The most important tests
with respect to external exposure were those of the Castle
series conducted in 1954. Bravo was most important to
the northern atolls, Yankee was more important to the
mid-latitude atolls (Kwajalein and others), and Romeo

and Koon were more important to the southern atolls
(Majuro andothers).
The total external doses to the populations ofall the
inhabited atolls from all tests at Bikini and Enewetak
varied over two orders of magnitude with the adult
residents of the southern atolls receiving relatively low
total external doses ranging from 5—22 mGyon average,
the adults at the mid-latitude atolls receiving external
doses of 22-59 mGy, while the residents of the northern

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